LACON — Midland School District officials are looking into buying property for a new Lacon-area school in the latest development in the long-running saga of trying to decide what to do about an aging local elementary school.

School Board members “are interested in investigating land acquisition,” Superintendent Rolf Sivertsen said after a special Monday night board meeting that included that topic and discussion of a leaking roof and uneven heating in the existing building in the center of town.

The possibility of a new school has been discussed for years. The board chose an architect about 18 months ago to design a building on city-owned farmland in an industrial park at the east edge of town.

But that potential site fell through last year, leaving the district with the options of trying to build near the existing school, acquire new property or expand another building and close the Lacon school.

“A decision needs to be made: Where do we go from here?” board president Jenelle Colvin said at Monday’s meeting. “If we don’t have a place to build a school, are we going to think about purchasing property?”

Sivertsen said he would be contacting real estate agents and also possibly area farmers who might have suitable land for sale. The goal would be to find something in the Lacon area, though not necessarily in the city limits, he added.

“I think we owe it to the taxpayers to explore all the options,” said board member Ryan Weber.

The board also heard from elementary Principal Renee Wallace about recent conditions in the Lacon building. An old boiler system leaves some areas cold and others uncomfortably hot, she said, and a brief thaw led to a leak in a flat-roofed area.

“It was literally like pouring rain down into our teachers’ lounge,” she said.

That leak was repaired, but the board is committed to handling such situations with the minimum expense necessary rather than any major renovations or improvements, Sivertsen said.

“They re-stated that they don’t want to put any significant amount of money into that building,” he said.

In other business the board:

■ Accepted the resignation of football coach Galen Noard. The district is a part of a River Valley Falcons cooperative agreement with Henry-Senachwine and Lowpoint-Washburn, but the coach is employed by Midland.

■ Extended the school year by one day to adjust for a snow cancellation.

Gary L. Smith can be reached at (800) 516-0389 or glsmith@mtco.com. Read his Northern Circuit blog at pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Glsmithx.